The Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus that concerns the end of the curse on the House of Atreus, The term "Oresteia" originally probably referred to all four plays, but today is generally used to designate only the surviving trilogy. "The individual plays probably did not originally have titles of their own" The only surviving example of a trilogy of ancient Greek plays, the Oresteia was originally performed at the Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BC, where it won first prize. Overall, this trilogy: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides (The Furies) marks the shift from a system of vendetta in Argos to a system of litigation in Athens.
For an unprecedented 11-week run, and in repertory with Icke's Hamlet, the Olivier-Award winning Oresteia will play at the Armory. This electrifying adaptation by Robert Icke of Aeschylus' seminal trilogy played to sold-out houses at the Almeida and in London's West End. Icke has condensed and modernized the Greek trilogy into a single performance that presents the play as a bold family drama.
For his production of Oresteia, he became the youngest winner of the Olivier Award for Best Director and also won the Best Director prize at both the Critics Circle and Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Lia Williams will return to the production as the enthralling Klytemnestra, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress. The distinguished company presents a new version of this epic revenge tragedy that is contemporary and exhilarating.
????? “Robert Icke’s extraordinary adaptation of Aeschylus’ Oresteia makes it feel as if you have electrodes wired into your soul.” —Time Out (London)
